Janjivan Bureau / New Delhi : The closure of schools in India has affected 320 million children from pre-primary to tertiary levels, Ministry of Education has told the Parliamentary Committee on Women’s Empowerment, in the first official admission of the effect of the pandemic.
In its statement to the Committee, which submitted its report on “Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao” to Parliament on Friday, the Ministry said out of 320 million children affected by the Covid-induced school closure, 158 million – 49.37 per cent – were girls.
Officials said there were growing concerns that the pandemic would disproportionately affect adolescent girls. “Post pandemic, this can lead to a higher risk of girls permanently dropping out of school and reversing the gains made over recent years. One cannot also ignore the fact that there is a gender dimension in digital access to learning. In families which possess a single smartphone, it is likely that sons will be given the preference to access online classes, followed by girls, if time permits,” the ministry told the panel.
During oral evidence, the government officials acknowledged a nearly three-fold rise in the number of out-of-school children, over the pandemic year.
“We have seen during last year’s Project Approval Board under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan that there is an increase in the number of out-of-school children. In 2020 to 2021, we had only 10 lakh out-of-school children. But during the current year, the states have given a total figure of 27.85 lakh out-of-school children,” the Ministry said, adding that such children were being tracked and a bridge course introduced to integrate them into the schools.
The Committee has recorded alarming reduction in Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) (ratio of total enrolment, regardless of age, to the population of the age group that officially corresponds to the level of education shown) for girls – from 101.78 per cent at primary level to 88.55 per cent at upper primary, 96.75 per cent elementary, 76.93 per cent at secondary to 50.84 per cent at the higher secondary level, with the Ministry admitting to GER decline in 18 of the 36 states.
The data show that if out of every 100 eligible girls, more than 100 (overage and underage also enrol) enter primary classes, only 50 reach higher secondary school.
